


Ashes of Hope

by Fjeril



Series: Fjeril Fictober 2018 [8]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 03:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16233281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fjeril/pseuds/Fjeril
Summary: Every day, Wataru amuses orphans with magic tricks until the sun sets.Every evening, Rei watches him do.





	Ashes of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> And this is my work for Fictober day 8: “I know you do.”  
> I've wanted to write Watarei for like AGES and then I finally get to it but  
> Erm.  
> I'm Fjeril.  
> Hello, I hope you enjoy that work.

As always, you're there, amusing the children, on the central place. As always, you give them flowers, sweets, toys, sometimes part of the money you make, too, and promise you'll be there tomorrow, too. To those orphans, you're an angel, fallen from the sky, showing them all the magic in this world.

Your tricks look real, to them, and to be honest, they look real to me, too. Most street magicians can't work their magic on adults, but yours looks simply so real even I wonder where the tricks stop and where the secret starts. When your hair seems to move by itself to offer that kid a lollipop, or when doves fly from your sleeves, it looks like a dream, like magic actually exists in this world.

I wish it would.

I wish it would be able to ease the pain in my heart whenever I see you, as much as I wish for the letter on my desk to disappear. You've seen me already, like every night; we've never talked or actually met. I'm not an orphan like the children you amuse every afternoon. I used to have a family, long ago. Now, I'm nobody anymore, and I have something to do.

*

As always you disappear in the shadows. I've seen you watching me every evening, as soon as the sun disappears. I wonder if you're a real vampire, or just aware what you look like. Just like every other evening, I crave for the ability to find you, but none of my tricks allowed me to do so. When I ask the children they say you don't exist, and when I ask the adults they tell me they never saw you.

A handsome man dressed all in black, with eyes of a piercing red, long, curly hair that elegantly fell on his shoulder, and people say they never saw you and that you don't exist? My, my, if you actually _are_ a vampire, then I must be either be lucky or your next prey; maybe I'm both, I wouldn't mind.

As soon as my stuff is packed, I walk home, stopping a hundred times on the way to chat with people. Letting flowers fall on my way, I give this woman a lollipop for the son she's adopted last year and that she loves to spoil rotten, or buy a few steamed potatos for the three brothers and sisters that live under the bridge at the town's entrance. They refuse to live with me every time I ask, telling me they want to try and get money by themselves; but they don't turn off food when it's offered once a week. As always, their eyes are filled with stars.

*

I won't fail, this time. I've taken advantage of the three siblings under the bridge way too many times already; I can't afford another failure.

But thanks to those kids, I have all the time in the world to prepare everything I need, and to hide properly. _It's gonna be alright_ , I try to tell myself while clutching the letter in my hand, _You have no reason to worry._

I have a thousand reasons to worry, actually. But tonight, they need to stay hidden, away from myself.

*

The darkness of my home brings me peace and satisfaction. The calm after the storm of children who applause and smile, who get to eat sweets and fresh food and are offered new toys. I'm not authorized to give them a safe place to stay, but if at least I can help make their mood brighter for even a few hours, it's enough for me. I wish I could give them the chance my parents gave me, every single time I see their smiling faces on that painting. Between the two of them is a very tiny me, with way shorter hair and clothes he's not used to yet, but smiling brightly. If the couple isn't there to spoil this child anymore, they sure did more than enough for him while he was growing up.

"Twice an orphan, huh?" I can't help but whisper.

That's what people said about me, but never what I thought. Those people brought me to a new life filled with love and discussions, with classes and magic tricks. Sometimes they'd even get enough money to buy sweets that we'd share around the fireplace, before going to bed, cuddling in the sofa while my mother would tell me a goodnight story. I don't feel lonely. I feel grateful.

And I can't stop smiling.

It's tugging my heartstrings; the need to sit on the sofa, a blanket on my knees, facing the fireplace. If there was someone else to share this moment with me, I'd be the most grateful person on this world. Maybe I should actually find a way to adopt a child in my turn.

*

I didn't expect you to move so much. To tuck yourself in a comfortable, safe place, as if there was nothing to worry for in the whole world. _Maybe I should let him enjoy it a little longer,_ I consider; after all, this is the last time he's going to have a chance to do so.

Or maybe I should just use one of the three times you walk so close to me you almost touch me. I thank the darkness around me for hiding me so well; had it been slightly lighter, my cover wouldn't have worked so well. Yet this time, I decide I need it to work a little bit longer, at least until you stop moving. I'm not good at this. I don't like it. But I have no other choice. I can't fail anymore.

So, when you seem to have fallen asleep, enjoying your evening, I shoot an arrow. My hand shakes at the last moment, just enough for me to miss my target; but close enough for the fire to come and lick it. Time to change plans. I shoot a second one, and a third one. If the weapon was given to me, there was no mention of the method; I could always do it the way I want to. Thus I keep shooting arrows in a straight line, close enough to each other for the fire to go from one to the next; and it's with mixed feelings that I shoot the last one juste before your spot on the sofa, and watch the fire take over.

As calmly as I can, I walk down the stairs, about to leave the house through the old back door. One last look at the house, and... _Oh no._

Purple irises seem to look into my soul. Without hatred, without fear. So patiently I can feel myself die inside a few times; even if no word was spoken, I feel complied to throw my bow in the fire, showing I don't plan on doing this anymore. But somehow, I can resolve myself to leave anyway.

"Ah," your voice is loud, and filled with the same magic and marvels as usual, "Amazing, you're staying with me until the end, mister vampire?"

I can't even say a word. "Mister vampire," you called me? And I though I was discreet. What a fool I've been, all this time.

"Don't mistake my feelings," I manage to mumble, "I just want my family to be safe."

Looking for some kind of comfort, I put my hand in my pocket, to take a last look at the letter; but it seems to have disappeared.

"I know you do," you smile, showing me the piece of paper you're holding, "I wish for their safety. Now run, or you'll end up like me."

As the fire gets stronger, blocking you from my view, I make the choice I should have made earlier.

It doesn't matter if I get burnt to ashes, as long as my family's safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading ♥ I hope you liked it! Can't wait to read all the shouting about that story.   
> Eydol asked me: "Can you stop killing people?!"  
> The answer is "no"  
> Also the truth is I wanted to write a lot of kissy cutie stories for Fictober, but whenever I see the sentences I refuse to take the easiest path and it ends up. Like this. I'm sorry, there is a risk my stories won't be as kissy or cuties as I hoped them to be.


End file.
